Houda, her family, and many of the residents of Tucson’s Small Syria are preparing for their first Ramadan in America. Ramadan is the holiest month of the Muslim calendar, and it is a holiday rich with family and social connections. In Muslim-majority countries, many businesses restrict their hours all month to accommodate their fasting employees and customers. Shops and markets are full of special sweets and foods. Lanterns are lit throughout the cities and towns, giving a warm glow to the evenings, as families and friends gather to break the day’s fast.
Here in Tucson, Houda and her neighbors are getting ready to observe their first Ramadan in a country that doesn’t celebrate or understand the holiday, that doesn’t restrict work hours to accommodate the fatigue of the fasting, where loved ones are far away and the city around them moves on as if nothing special is happening.
In episode 10 of Mn Huna: Finding Refuge in Friendship, Houda wants to share a little bit of the preciousness of Ramadan with you, her new neighbors here in Tucson.
هدى/Houda: رمضان كريم رمضان مبارك
Melanie/ميلاني: Ramadan Kareem & Ramadan Mubarak
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